Dependents Day – Independent Film Review

Hello everyone Kevin of Film Fervor here bringing you another independent film review. Today we will be discussing the 2016 dark romantic comedy Dependent’s Day written and directed by Michael David Lynch. Starring Joe Burke, Benita Robledo and Shannon Lucio.

Dependent’s day focuses on the life of Cam (Joe Burke), a self indulgent, insecure young man who is constantly reminded how much more successful his beautiful and very skilled girlfriend Alice (Benita Robledo) is compared to him. The aspiring actor is forced to look his life square in the eye as Alice claims him as a dependent on their tax returns and shames him into action to become the “Bread Winner” in the family and prove himself worthy of Alice’s unquestioning love. Cam goes on a series of misadventures as he tries to find a job and finely make his dreams come true and become a true Hollywood star but life and his own ego continually get in the way.

Romantic comedies, just the very mention of those two words are normally enough to make me go running in the opposite direction. In nearly every Rom-Com it is the same story, man aims way above his attainable level of girlfriend and somehow manages to bumble his way into her heart. It is always cliched and over blown and nearly out of the realm of suspension of disbelief, a critical part of all films of any genre, Dependent’s Day on the other hand takes these tropes and turns them on their head. Cam is already in a successful relationship with his girlfriend and his true goal, the true romance is his dream of becoming a ‘Winner’. This is a novel approach that not many directors take and I have to say works wonderfully to bring to life this touching and very heartfelt love story.

The acting in Dependent’s Day top notch. Joe Burke’s portrayal of Cam is both darkly funny and cringe worthy with how realistic he makes the character seem. Cam is shallow, insecure and comes across as both depressed and curiously optimistic at the same time and really sets the tone perfectly for the typical wannabe actor archetype. Benita Robledo’s Alice is a stark contrast to the almost self deluded Cam . She is kind, chipper and above all very successful and Benita Robledo’s performance brings the character to life that very few Rom-Coms manage. Of course all of this is thanks to the wonderfully written script by director Michael David Lynch. I find it promising that director Lynch took the cookie cutter mold of Rom-Coms and broke it open to show something while not unique but uncommon enough to make even me interested in the film.

The production value of Dependent’s Day is stellar. The Cinematography is beautifully crisp and clear and the camera work is well above what you’d normally expect from an independent film, this isn’t surprising as they use the very high end Red Epic camera, one of the very best for shooting a film in the industry. The angles and scroll work of the cameras always are on the mark and there are no annoying shaky cam moments to jar you from the experience, always a major plus to any film.

The audio work of course are perhaps one of the most important parts of a romantic comedy, after all if you can’t really hear or understand what the characters are saying the humor is lost, and once again Dependent’s Day does not disappoint. The voices of the characters are clear and concise throughout the film and deliver the witty dialog to the viewers wonderfully. The soundtrack of Dependent’s Day is fitting and well throughout bringing both humor and tenderness to the character’s lives.

Dependent’s Day is a very high production and well thought out independent film that is easily on par with anything Hollywood rolls out in the genre. If you like dark comedy sprinkled with romance and many cringe worthy scenes then at one hour and thirty minutes Dependent’s Day is very well worth the time to watch. From a technical stand point it was one of the best Independent films I have had the pleasure of watching, take note aspiring film makers as this is diffidently a case of what you want to do when making a film. I give Dependent’s Day a very solid five out of five on it’s script, acting and wonderful production quality.